The Raven Dust
by Organicat1823
Summary: There comes a time in one's life when a reevaluation is necessary. Said moment comes for Raven of the Teen Titans when her emotions finally get the better of her, thus endangering the lives of her friends in combat. Out of concern for the team's safety, Raven is relieved of duty until she can learn to finally conquer the dangerous tie between her powers and volatile emotions.


**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the Teen Titans. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about them, now, would I? :P**

_It took her but a second to realize she was alone in the fight to save the Tamaranian princess. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy all appeared to have dissolved into the air around her. "Save Starfire!" and "Dudes!" and "What's happening?" echoed throughout her ears._

"_No!" the empath gasped, her friends now absent. Before she could dwell on their disappearance much longer, however, a shriek sounded its way from the center of the room where a Starfire-sized chrysalis lay - with a Cironielian Chrysalis Eater perched right above it._

_Raven could feel the fiery wrath of Rage burn within her, aiming itself right at the nasty creature. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A tough bout of black magic encased itself around the Chrysalis Eater's many legs, and pulled it off of the empath's cocooned teammate._

"_Argh! You fool… I'll just have to devour you first, instead!" the monster roared before charging. Her razor sharp claws swiped at the air, barely missing Raven's face. Instead, tiny strands of violet floated to the floor. Raven reached up and touched her face, feeling a slight scrape on her cheek._

_Suddenly, a deep chuckle emitted from the fangs before her, the laughter causing a sick anxiety to settle in the empath's stomach. "I've already consumed your friends, you see, you cannot stop me. Puny girl!"_

"_What? How?" Raven shook her head, "No, they only disappeared!"_

"_Yes, child… into my stomach!" the Chrysalis Eater roared and dove at her. As the dark-clad hero attempted to shield herself, it was then she realized her powers were, too, absent from the fight. With a sickeningly loud crunch, her foe clamped its teeth into Raven's shoulderblade. Blood splattered the area around her as a sharp gasp escaped her lips._

"_You're mine, now!" the creature hissed, tightening its jaw. Then, suddenly, it stopped and flung Raven to the wall._

_With a grunt of pain, the gray skinned girl slumped into a pile of scarlet-stained fabric upon the floor. She raised her eyes to see the Cironielian Chrysalis Eater making its way towards her teammate._

_The empath's eyes widened as she tried to stand, "Starfire- agh!" With a gasp, Raven was dropped to her knees. A sickeningly green tint spread throughout the bite wound on her shoulder and made it's way across her back and down her arm. "N-no…" she breathed, paralysis taking over. Raven was powerless._

"_Help! Friends? Help!" Starfire wailed from inside the cocoon, "I do not wish to be eaten-"_

_The Tamaranian's cries for assistance were silenced as the monster's fangs cracked through her cocoon's shell._

_Raven stared, wide eyed, at her best friend's blood dripping from the Chrystalis Eater's fangs._

"_You're next, my dear…"_

"NO!" Raven shot straight up in bed, clutching the bedsheets. The books resting on her dresser suddenly shot to the ceiling with the accompany of her emotion-driven powers. Other objects within the room exploded around her, which may or may not have woken the rest of the team.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Raven? Are you okay in there?" Robin's voice rang through the door, "We heard you scream."

She lay there, panting, whilst trying to collect her thoughts. Yet, when the other Titans did not receive a response, Beast Boy's suggestion brought her back to reality. "Dudes, we should go in! She might be hurt!"

"Yes, friends, we must!"

Raven shook her head in disagreement, trying to find her voice as she threw on her cape and flew to the door.

Cyborg's attempt to override the locking system was interrupted by the resident empath, now standing, half revealed, in the doorway. He started, lowering his arm, "Yo, Rae, you okay?"

She hesitated for a brief, nearly indiscernible, moment before nodding. "I am fine, it was just a bad dream," Raven went to close the door, "and my name is Raven."

The door slammed shut. Four of the five Titans looked warily at one another before giving a shrug and heading back to bed.

Robin, however, remained.

"Dude? It's 3 in the morning. Rae said she's fine, right?" Beast Boy noticed his leader's hesitation.

"Yeah, you're right. See you in the morning, Beast Boy," the Boy Wonder snapped out of his thoughts before assuring the changeling with a tired smile. They both nodded and parted ways until morning.

"Raaaaaven," sang the, all too cheery, green shapeshifter, "wanna taste some tofu?"

The empath's eyes didn't even glance up from her book, "No."

"Hmm, suit yourself! More for me," Beast Boy shrugged and flopped down beside her. A bit too close for her usual tastes, but after the nightmare she witnessed the last night, Raven couldn't find it in herself to complain about the close proximity.

Starfire flew over to the couch and, after a large gulp of mustard, sighed happily with a quick twirl of joy. "Is today not glorious, friends? The sun is shining and the mustard is plentiful!"

"Yeah, Star, totally wonderful," Cyborg mumbled from the kitchen. He was stuck on cleaning duty that day and had to rid the Titans' fridge of the various molds that grew within the chilly container. "Ain't anyone ever heard of an expiration date? Eesh!"

The Tamaranian tilted her head, a bottle of mustard in hand, "Cyborg, what is this 'date of expiration' you speak of?"

BB leaned in towards Raven, albeit unintentional, to turn and get a better view of his orange teammate. This caused Raven to hold her breath in… anticipation?

"It's like, when the food isn't good to eat anymore… like…" the green changeling tried to explain.

Starfire tilted her head the other way, "As in what, friend? The food is not, as you would say, 'tasty' anymore?"

"Heh, you could say that," he nodded.

In the kitchen, the team's cybernetic friend began piling up boxes of tofu onto the counter. "Yeah, and totally inedible - like BB's junk, here! Might as well throw this away, too."

"WHAT? No way, Cy! That's all I can eat!" Beast Boy tossed himself over the back of the couch and ran into the kitchen.

The sudden lack of heat beside the empath was unsettling for some reason. Raven's eyes followed Beast Boy's form into the kitchen before lingering on the scene of her two friends bickering.

Starfire giggled beside her, snapping her out of her daze. "They are quite humorous, yes?" It was times like these when Raven was grateful for the girl's innocence. Had she not been so naive, the empath would have certainly been teased for staring so blatantly at their green teammate.

Which brought her to the question: _why_ was she staring at Beast Boy? The emptiness beside her seemed to grow larger as Starfire floated her way into the kitchen, and suddenly, it seemed to be too much.

She wanted the company. She wanted to feel, to be reassured, that her friends were still beside her. A small bead of sweat trickled down her temple, but of course, she merely ignored it and wiped the droplet away. "_It was just a dream," _the empath tried to remind herself.

Instead of joining her friends in their light-hearted banter, or at least stick around to watch the silliness unfold, the sorceress opted to spend the rest of her morning on the rooftop. "Friend Raven, do you-" the common room doors swished to a close before Starfire could invite her teammate to do whatever it was she had in mind.

As Raven travelled to the roof, settling for a walk instead of teleporting, she nearly ran into Robin. The empath was much too deep in thought to have seen him approaching, and their near collision only served to help confirm Robin's theory of her well-being.

"Hey Raven, you, uh, okay?"

After regaining her composure as quickly as she could, the blue-clad girl nodded, pulling up her hood. "I'm fine. I just need to meditate," she explained.

Robin crossed his arms casually, nodding slowly, "Uh huh, well, okay. You can always come to me if you need someone to talk to, you know that, right?"

Raven simply nodded before walking around her leader and down the hallway.

As the sorceress receded from view, Robin couldn't help but be curious as to whether or not she really was as okay as she claimed.

**A/N: Sooo, thank you for reading the first chapter of my story! It'll pick up soon, really, it will. I promise! The first 2 or 3 chapters are meant as a set up for the entire plot. Just think of them as… an extended prologue. Also, huge apologies for such a short chapter. They shall lengthen greatly, I promise. Anyways, R/R are always welcome! Constructive criticism is constructive :P I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Ciao!~**


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